Negotiations between THE BOYZ and IST Entertainment over the group’s trademark rights have fallen through.
On December 4, ONE HUNDRED, the new agency of THE BOYZ, released the following official statement addressing the matter:
This is ONE HUNDRED, the new agency for THE BOYZ members.
During the negotiation process with IST Entertainment over the trademark rights for THE BOYZ—a name the members have upheld for seven years—ONE HUNDRED found IST Entertainment’s conditions to be unreasonable and could not accept them.
ONE HUNDRED has done its utmost to negotiate with IST Entertainment regarding the trademark rights. The members themselves also worked tirelessly until the very end, even until today, to retain the trademark rights for the sake of their fans. However, it is deeply regrettable that a positive outcome could not be reached with IST Entertainment.
Our priority has always been THE BOYZ and their fans, and we had hoped for an amicable and seamless resolution to the agency transition.
Until the contract expiration date on December 5, ONE HUNDRED remains open to further discussions and will continue to negotiate earnestly regarding the trademark rights. However, should the negotiations ultimately fail, we are fully prepared to support the members as they promote under a new and better brand name.
Lastly, ONE HUNDRED promises to always act in the best interest of the artists and their fans.
According to ONE HUNDRED, they have already taken steps to register alternative names, including The Boys, The New Boyz, and TNBZ, in anticipation of the failed negotiations with IST Entertainment.
THE BOYZ will officially part ways with IST Entertainment upon the expiration of their contracts on December 5. All 11 members will then move to ONE HUNDRED, an entertainment agency co-founded by MC Mong and p_Arc Group chairwoman Cha Ga Won, with affiliated labels Big Planet Made, which is home to Lee Seung Gi and SHINee’s Taemin, and INB100, which houses EXO’s Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin.